Dell S2716DG - Dells first G-sync

So the monitor arrived yesterday - yay :)

This might be useful for any BenQ XL2730Z owners out there looking to change to the Green team or looking for a comparison (as this was my previous monitor).

Here's the highlights:

- Very impressive looking monitor; an understated yet really attractive look - loving the super thin bezzle
- Great build quality overall - feels premium
- Zero dead / stuck pixels
- Very minor but consistent backlight / even around all edges - definitely no concern here and cannot be seen in real usage
- Super, super smooth - G-Sync is very, very good
- Overdrive on this panel has been implemented very well - it has noticeably less inverse ghosting than the BenQ XL2730Z does
- Image quality is very sharp with the 2560x1440 native resolution
- Not yet seen this 'vertical line inversion' problem at all (and I'd say I'm very observant / fussy with defects like this)
- Not seen and issues with inverse ghosting on black to white (or white to black) transitions - looks fine to me

and now the negative points:

- Gamma.... Gamma, Gamma, Gamma (did I mention Gamma?). This is the one thorn in my side that makes me want to return the monitor. It is well documented about the 1.9 default gamma which makes the panel so washed out and eliminates the benefit of the 8-bit panel.

This can be beautifully corrected with a minor adjustment (+0.80 gamma in NVIDIA control panel or one of the .icc profiles here) to make it look outstanding for a TN panel on the desktop (subjectively better than the BenQ XL2730Z even) but this is inconsistent and (depending on the software involved) will be lost when you load a 3D game up which turns it back to being washed out again.

Unlike the BenQ XL2730Z (which shows outstanding colours for a TN panel), this monitor has no hardware / OSD based gamma correction which means you are always at the mercy of software.

I have tried CPKeeper which sometimes works but other times doesn't (e.g. works in Diablo 3, fails in Planetside 2) which is quite frustrating as you know the monitor is capable of so much more when it becomes washed out.

If only Dell had calibrated the monitor better in the factory (shame on them - they would know better than this!) or given the user hardware / OSD based gamma options, the screen would be near perfect

- Minor niggle - the screen has no carrying handle or extras like a headset hook like the BenQ XL2730Z had (very minor complaint I know)


If anyone can help me consistently solve the gamma problem once and for all then I'm all ears.

I'm concerned, however, that this will be partly down to the NVIDIA drivers - I have been reading a lot of reports that they have not been able to maintain their gamma settings correctly since Windows Vista!
 
I have been keeping an eye on this for awhile, and now i want to purchase yet again the price has crept up :(.

I currently have a u2715h IPS and I love it. Yet I want more screen space, plus a monitor for gaming so would a IPS and this TN panel go well?

I currently have a 760gtx which I believe will not take advantage of 144hz (even though i get a solid 200 fps on some games, rocket league, csgo etc) so will 120hz work? I believe I can only get 60hz on my u2715h.

I plan to upgrade GPU later when or if 980ti come down at some point, but why not get this gsync monitor and be ready for a future upgrade right? plus benfit of both a tn and ips at my disposal.

Now just want that price to come back down to 400...
 
Well, i think it would work quite well along side a u2715h, using one for gaming and the other for any productive uses. As for the 760 I can't really answer but i thought I read somewhere that the 780 wouldn't support 144hz but it does so maybe 760 will too.
 
As long as the game isn't too demanding the GTX760 should be able to output 144Hz on games like CSGO/Rocket League. They're both 1440p so if you can get those FPS on the Ultrsharp, you'll be able to get them on the GSync monitor.
 
I expected the viewing angles to be very poor on this, but I'm surprised how good it is. Better than my old Samsung, which I think sat somewhere between IPS and something else. :)
 
Argh, really tempted, it's my Birthday today and I'm planning a GPU/Monitor upgrade...going to switch from a 770>1070. Currently on my trusty old Dell U2312 IPS monitor, only thing this is missing is IPS, so I'm torn as to take the leap or not, but most of the IPS units now with the features I want (144hz/gsync/1440P) seem to have horrendous QC as well as be significantly more pricey...decisions!
 
Deo_volente said:
I just used the profile from tft central and knocked the brightness down to 45% in the osd. Looks good enough to me, ymmv of course.
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Thanks, I'll bear that in mind; I've just found one which I'll try first. :)

Edit: actually, it appears they are very similar indeed, so I've gone with the TFT one. Certainly tones the brightness down a lot! :D

Edit 2: this will take some working out - I use f.lux as well (which I may well not need anymore due to the much higher refresh rate).
 
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TerminatorUK said:
I have tried CPKeeper which sometimes works but other times doesn't (e.g. works in Diablo 3, fails in Planetside 2) which is quite frustrating as you know the monitor is capable of so much more when it becomes washed out.

If anyone can help me consistently solve the gamma problem once and for all then I'm all ears.

I'm concerned, however, that this will be partly down to the NVIDIA drivers - I have been reading a lot of reports that they have not been able to maintain their gamma settings correctly since Windows Vista!
Click to expand...

If games support reshade then use a 3dlut that would have been calibrated from the .icc profile. I use Displaycalgui to manage and lock my profiles to games so it doesn't reset the gamma. It's like cpkeeper but built into the calibration software that I use.

The difference it makes to games is amazing and better than sweetfx profiles as it keeps everything natural and not oversaturated.
 
Quick q guys , I have an Ati HD 4000 series(old I know) and was wondering if it would be worth buying this screen? I need purely for FPS gaming.. Currently have a Dell IPS, so looking to run dual screen with the HD 4000. Opinions pls?
 
Makaveli said:
Quick q guys , I have an Ati HD 4000 series(old I know) and was wondering if it would be worth buying this screen? I need purely for FPS gaming.. Currently have a Dell IPS, so looking to run dual screen with the HD 4000. Opinions pls?
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1440p feels a LOT harder to run than 1080p ...and i'm on a gtx 970! so.... :D
 
i changed to this one from a 1080p ips and omg in comparition colors are so awfull. i knew there will be difference but i didnt expect it to be so drastic. my eyes are begging me to be back to old monitor.
 
Makaveli said:
Quick q guys , I have an Ati HD 4000 series(old I know) and was wondering if it would be worth buying this screen? I need purely for FPS gaming.. Currently have a Dell IPS, so looking to run dual screen with the HD 4000. Opinions pls?
Click to expand...

Spend your money on a 1070 then get one of these. Your HD4000 is literally worthless
 
So I just got mine last night, no QC issues so far so good, I do however have a problem With BF4, when I bring up the menu it states its "in g-sync mode 60hz" am I doing something wrong here? or is this what happens for everyone else?
 
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